


Covert Romance

by mochegato



Series: Covert Jasonette [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, First Date, Identity Reveal, Jasonette, Rooftop romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:33:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26274157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mochegato/pseuds/mochegato
Summary: Marinette and Jason are able to actually go on their date and it goes better than either could have expected until it gets crashed again.
Relationships: Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Jason Todd
Series: Covert Jasonette [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1908970
Comments: 5
Kudos: 211





	Covert Romance

Marinette nervously followed Jason up the narrow stairs, clutching his hand for reassurance. “Are you sure it’s okay for us to be up here?” she whispered anxiously despite there being nobody else in the stairwell to hear. She was positive they were breaking some kind of rule. There was no way random people were allowed to just jaunt on up to the roof of the _Wayne Enterprises_ building. It was one of the most secure buildings in the city, hell, maybe the entire state.

The security officer at the front door had let them pass with little more than a nod to Jason and a smile, showing very little concern about them wandering around. But now they were almost on the roof and it seemed like there should be another level of security to get up there, like someone appearing out of nowhere to check ID’s and intentions. But there was nothing. Just her and Jason and Jason’s keycard granting them the run of the building.

“Yeah Princess, it’s fine,” he reassured her with a smile squeezing her hand. “There’s a reason I have a keycard. I’m allowed to go anywhere in the building I deem necessary. And I have deemed it very necessary for me to be up here right now with you.” He threw her a dashing smile that made her blush brightly as he let go of her hand to pull out his keycard again.

“Ready?” he asked putting the keycard back in his pocket after swiping it on the security pad. 

“For what” she asked with a suspicious smile.

“It’s a surprise. Close your eyes and wait here for a second,” he said, excitement creeping into his voice. He had never brought someone up here before. The view from the roof meant a lot to him. It was one of his favorite spots in the world. Gotham looked magical from up here. Something about bringing her here made him feel exposed and he was eager to see how she reacted. 

When Marinette closed her eyes, he pushed the door open and gently placed the box he had been carrying with their dinner on the ground before turning back to Marinette. “I’m going to bring you out now,” he said gently as he put one hand over her eyes and the other on the small of her back to guide her to a particular spot on the roof. “No peeking,” he warned gently. She could hear his cheeky grin in his voice.

As soon as she stepped onto the roof, she could feel the cool, crisp night air hit the exposed parts of her face, cooling her burning cheeks. She could barely register the sounds of the city over her racing heart as he led her out onto the roof. Her heart nearly stopped when she felt him step behind her almost touching his chest to her back and whispered, “Okay, open your eyes.”

She opened her eyes and gasped at the sight in front of her. “What do you think?” he asked eagerly. When she didn’t respond immediately he anxiously explained, “This is my favorite spot in the entire city. It is the best place to see all of Gotham lit up. From right here, you can see the neighborhood I grew up in, the waterfront, gargoyles… you can almost imagine something good could happen here. Like there’s hope for us all. ” he whispered with a shaky smile. 

Her eyes opened exceptionally wide as she took in the view. “Jason, this is absolutely gorgeous. I’ve never seen Gotham this way. Oh my God, this is… I should have brought my sketchbook. Jason, this is amazing!” She finally tore her eyes from the city to turn and face Jason, her smile beaming. “Thank you for bringing me up here.”

Jason looked down at her, her exhilarated expression making his heart skip a beat. He let out the breath he had been holding since he removed his hand from her eyes. The city lights were reflected in her gorgeous blue eyes making them sparkle even more than they usually did. He smiled gently at her “I guess we’ll have to come back up here for our next date too, so you can bring your sketchbook with you.” 

Marinette’s breath hitched as she noticed how very close they were to one another. She smiled shyly, “Second date huh?” 

He raised his hand to move a strand of hair the wind was whipping around her face to tuck it behind her ear, before moving his hands to cradle her face and run his thumbs over her cheeks. God, he wanted to see that expression on her face every day, every moment. He wanted to be the one to make her look like that. “Or third… or fourth… two hundredth. However many you’ll let me have, I’ll take.” Sincerity shone in his eyes as he leaned down slowly. He gently lifted her chin, keeping eye contact the entire time to check for any signs of apprehension. Seeing none, he moved to within centimeters of her lips and whispered, “Is this okay?”

“Please,” she whispered back pushing up to meet his lips with her own, giving him a gentle kiss that was far too short for her. She pulled away and opened her eyes to look up at him. When their eyes met she saw the same desire she felt clouding his eyes. She quickly pushed up to give him a second, longer, hungrier kiss. His arms wound around her waist, pulling her body closer to him as hers found their way up to his neck and hair, pulling his face closer to her so she could deepen the kiss.

When they finally broke apart, breathing deeply, she smiled happily and twisted in his arms back toward the city, snuggling back against him. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and curled around her. She leaned her head back against his chest with a happy sigh, taking in the beauty of Gotham at night. She matched perfectly with his body, her head tucked snugly under his chin, like they were designed to fit together. His body molded around her like a comforting blanket, making her feel warm and secure. She wanted more of this, more of him. “I’ll give you as many dates as you want. As long as you’re there and kissing me like that, I’ll be happy.” 

“Couldn’t be much of a date if I wasn’t there. Sounds incredibly boring for you. What would you do?” He questioned in mock concern.

“Probably pine after you. You’re right, I should just stick to dating you.” She said pretending to come to a resolution. 

“It’s settled then,” he said nodding. He squeezed her tightly for a moment and said, “Come on, let’s eat. I’m starving.”

A few minutes later, the blanket Jason had borrowed from his favorite Italian restaurant had been spread out and the dishes they had ordered placed on it along with a couple bottles of wine and glasses the owner had also packed in the box for them. Joe had packed the box with everything they would need for an impromptu picnic and promised to tell his brothers, or anyone else asking about him, that he hadn’t seen or heard from Jason for a few days. He even promised to ask if he should contact them if Jason did turn up to further the illusion that he hadn’t seen them. Regardless of whether his brothers believed him or not, they wouldn’t get any information out of Joe to know if he went to another restaurant or got take out. Jason was going to have to do something extra special for Joe. This was exactly what they needed to escape from his family.

After dishing the food onto their plates and pouring the wine, Marinette broke the comfortable silence. “Oh wow! You were right. This is delicious.” He bowed slightly in acknowledgement instead of answering since his mouth was currently stuffed with food. “So… you said there was a reason you had a key to go everywhere in the building. What is that reason?”

“Oh… um…” he swallowed the mouthful he had just taken, “I’m head of security for the company.” He’d had his answer prepared. It was a plausible excuse, easy to believe with his expertise and familiarity with the building and employees. 

“Really!? Oh my God! That must be insanely stressful. This is one of the most targeted businesses in Gotham,” she reeled back in shock. No wonder he was always keeping an eye out for suspicious activity and acting on it. She did it too, but that was because she had been Ladybug. Now it made so much sense that he would do the same. “I hope they give you lots of vacation days to burn off that pressure.” She took another bite of the pasta and furrowed her brow. “Is that how you have access to a private jet? They let you borrow it occasionally so you don’t go insane?”

“Not exactly but kinda, yeah. Mr. Wayne lets me take it if I need to for some reason. And my best friend’s dad is filthy fucking rich and has no problem using it to buy affection so... yeah. What about you though?”

“Well… I mean, I don’t really.”

Jason raised his eyebrow at her. “Your roommate said that was bullshit. Come on Mari, I want the whole and unabridged answer here,” he said urging her to continue.

She sighed. “Okay so, my best friend… you almost met him tonight, my roommate, Adrien? Yeah, he used to be really wealthy with a private jet or two, but his dad turned out to be a supervillain… oh, remember me talking about Hawkmoth? That was his Dad, Gabriel Agreste, so… not so many jets anymore.” Jason hadn’t expected that turn of events. That would explain why she was so hesitant to talk about it. Not a lot of people liked discussing their association with a supervillain. Odd that her roommate would mention it in front of strangers, but then again who was he to critique someone else’s coping mechanisms. 

Jason was about to change the subject to a less dismal topic when Marinette swallowed her food and continued. “One of his other best friends is also rich. Her dad is the mayor of Paris and her mom is Style Queen. _She_ likes me, Style Queen not the friend, although she doesn’t hate me anymore so… progress! Well… tolerates me, so… frenemies? Is it frenemies if only one person is doing it?” Marinette asked scrunching her face and cocking it to the side as if she was trying to figure out a puzzle before continuing to ramble on. “But, she would really only let me borrow the jet if she thought it would annoy Adrien… or my other friends… or her parents… or anyone who said she couldn’t. She really doesn’t like being told what she ‘can’ or ‘can’t’ do,” she rolled her eyes and grinned at Jason. “Can’t really blame her though. I’d do the same. Also, my uncle is a rock star and another friend is a pop star and another is a supermodel… actually, she doesn’t have her own private jet but she does have a lot of people willing to let her use theirs whenever she asks, no questions asked... Also, I have a few clients that would probably let me borrow a jet if I asked desperately enough.”

Jason stared at her slack jawed. His food was falling out of his open mouth unnoticed. “Holy fuck, Pixie!” he exclaimed when he could finally speak again.

“You wanted the whole answer! ‘Unabridged’ you said,” she protested, her cheeks bright red in embarrassment.

“And was that the whole answer?” he asked only half joking.

“I think… Oh, and I know a producer that probably has a few jets. It seems like the kind of thing he would do. Maybe a few others. My friends and I don’t really talk about things like that when we get together.” She shrugged.

“Damn, who the fuck are you, Marinette?” he asked in awe.

She smiled and looked down timidly, “Didn’t I tell you?” She looked back up with a scowl. “I am Batman” she growled out in a gruff voice.

Jason gave her a deadpan look and threw down his fork. “That’s it. I lost my appetite.” He mock pouted. “That's it, Princess. You've managed to do what none of my brothers or hundreds of hours of hours of gory horror movies managed to do. I completely lost my appetite”

She gave him a raucous laugh that he quickly matched. After the laughter had died out she looked back up at him with shining eyes and said playfully, “By the way, you can’t use ‘Princess’.”

“What?” he asked in confusion.

“You called me Princess a few times tonight. You can’t use that one. You’re going to have to stick to Pixie Pop or Cupcake or come up with some others.”

“Okay, but what’s the hang up with ‘Princess’? Bad memories? Someone who’s ass I need to kick?”

“No, no, nothing like that. It’s just that it’s Adrien’s nickname for me and he’s very protective of it. Not that he doesn’t have a lot of them for me, but that one means a lot to him.” She looked at Jason apologetically. 

Jason nodded, “Got it. Princess has already been claimed. I can live with that.” He narrowed his eyes at her and pointed a warning finger at her before saying, “You can’t use Zombie or Buckethead. Those are already taken by _my_ brothers.”

She laughed loudly. “Seriously?” He nodded solemnly in response. “Damn, those were the ones I was going to use too.” He squawked in response making her laugh even louder. Once their laughter had lightened she looked back out to the city and hummed. “So what do you think our friends and family are doing now? Do you think they are still looking for us?”

“I’m betting,” he started, taking another bite before continuing, “they went to the restaurant we picked up the food from, it’s a family favorite, tried to track our phones before seeing they were turned off, asked Alfred where we might have gone, and when he told them to back off, went to a coffee shop to regroup and plan.”

“Hmmm… That’s a lot of time with each other. I wonder which of your siblings Adrien is going to say he’s in love with when I get home.”

“That desperate, huh?” he joked.

“That much of a romantic,” she corrected. “When he falls, he does it quickly and with his whole heart.”

Jason hummed in response. That was something he could bond with Adrien over. He smiled gently at her as she looked peacefully out over the city with a gentle smile. She was the smartest, strongest, sweetest woman he had ever met. She was really too sweet for Gotham. She was definitely too sweet for Red Hood. Was he making a mistake bringing her into his life? He really, really liked her, maybe even loved her at this point, but his life was dangerous. He knew she had experience with danger after her years living in Paris while the Hawk guy was running around, but being with a vigilante was a different thing all together. How would she react the first time he came home with a gunshot wound or broken ribs? How would he react if someone took her to get to him? She wasn’t a hero like him. How would she protect herself? He shook his head to clear the negative thoughts out of his head. They had plenty of time to discuss that. Tonight, in this spot that promised so much hope, he was going to enjoy his date. “We should dance,” he said smiling lovingly at her as he stood up and walked a few feet away.

“There’s no music,” she laughed incredulously.

“Then we make our own,” he extended his hand to her.

Marinette stared at his hand for a moment before looking back in his sparkling eyes. The eyes she would follow anywhere. The eyes she fell in love with. She smirked at him, “You have some secret beatboxing skills you haven’t divulged yet? Because that would be amazing.”

He smiled gallantly down at her “No, but my humming would make Bocelli jealous.”

She laughed, “Oh that I have to hear.” She set down her plate and bounced up. Before she reached his hand, they heard a thump on the other side of the roof.

“Oh shit,” Jason sighed out in annoyance and he moved between Marinette and the noise, effectively hiding her behind him.

Marinette watched the side of the roof the noise had emanated from, steeling herself to fight. Batman emerging from the shadows had honestly never occurred to her, although it made sense. He was probably investigating why there were unauthorized people on the roof. “Why aren’t you suited up?” he growled at Jason.

“I’m not working tonight, Batman,” Jason said very deliberately, shooting him a warning look, “so I’m not in my uh… uniform.”

“Oh my God, it’s the real Batman. Did I… did I summon him?” Marinette whispered to Jason peeking out from behind him.

Batman glanced down at Marinette and looked back at Jason. Jason could feel the disappointment and raised eyebrow under the cowl.

“His son is the demon, not him.” He said quietly to her with a smirk. Turning back to Batman he said, “We’re here on a date B. Hiding from my family who couldn’t mind their own fucking business and decided to crash our date.” He said pointedly.

“You’re hiding from your family and you decided _here_ was a good place to hide from them?”

“Hiding in plain sight. They would assume I’d take her to a restaurant for our date not here. And nobody else is expected to work for a while. I was hoping we’d be out of here before then.”

Marinette’s mind was reeling. Jason seemed unnaturally calm talking to _the_ Batman. She supposed he might be familiar with him considering his position for Wayne Enterprises. But, they sounded like they know each other really, really well, more than just Jason working with him for security. Also, that didn’t explain Batman asking him about suiting up. That wasn’t a term you used with civilians. It was a term heroes used…. “Oh my God. You’re one of the bats! You’re one of Gotham’s heroes.”

“Vigilantes” Jason said

“Oh my GOD!!” Marinette exclaimed backing away. “One nice, normal guy, that’s all I asked for. Just one love interest that wasn’t a fucking superhero. Why is that too much to ask?”

“Vigilante. What do you mean just one? How many superheroes have you dated?”

“You know, it isn’t even just boyfriends. Just one _friend_ that doesn't risk their life constantly.” She ran her hand down over her face, “ugh, Adrien is never going to let me hear the end of this.”

“Oh, I don't risk my life, I make others risk theirs…” he paused to consider what he had just said and furrowed his brow, “I just realized that makes it sound like I need to get rescued a lot. That's not what I meant. I meant the bad guys do…. You know what? I never said anything. This never happened.”

“Jason you almost got Robin killed last week. And you've literally died”

“What?! I mean join the club, but what?” Marinette shrieked at him.

“What do you mean join the club?!” Jason exclaimed toward her then turned back to Batman “and Damian was in danger because he got cocky and rushed in.”

“SECRETS Jason. _Secret_ identities don’t do much if you tell them to everyone you take on a date.”

“It’s not like I’m Dick. This is the first date I’ve been on in a year,” Jason said rolling his eyes.

“Really?” Marinette asked softly.

“Yeah, I hadn’t met anyone I wanted to date in a while.” he shrugged more vulnerable than Marinette had ever seen him, like she was witnessing a part of him he rarely let people see. “And I didn’t tell her,” he defended, rounding back to Batman.

“Well she figured it out somehow,” he growled back at Jason.

“Me either,” she smiled gently up at Jason, then turned back to Batman. “Actually, it was you with the ‘why aren’t you in uniform’ and all the familiarity you had with him that gave it away,” she said significantly less gently to Batman.

Batman gave her his patented glare.

“What is that supposed to do? Intimidate me? It isn’t going to change what happened.” She stared back at him unimpressed with a raised brow. “I’ve been glared at by the best. I’m not going to lie, you’ve got a good glare but if you think your glare is better than Gabriel Agreste or Audrey Bourgeois or _my Mom’s_ you’re delusional. I’ve stood up to all of them and their glares without flinching.” Aside to Jason she said “except my mom because she’s really scary when she wants to be.” Turning to face back to Batman, “I took Gabriel Agreste and his glare down. I can do the same to you.”

Jason stared at her mouth slightly agape. What, and he could not stress this enough, the FUCK was happening right now? His little, too sweet for Gotham girlfriend… girlfriend, right? She did agree to only date him so… He’d have to get confirmation on that. His too sweet for Gotham girlfriend was making Bruce her bitch. He was fighting hard against the urge to drag her back into the stairwell and push her up against the wall. No, focus. He needed to focus. Something about what she had said was off.

His mind started racing through what she said. She said she took Gabriel Agreste down. What did that mean… didn’t she say Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth? Ladybug took down Hawkmoth… Oh my God! That’s why she has a history with superheroes! “Holy Shit, you’re Ladybug!” He grinned widely. His sweet, kind, brilliant Pixie was a superhero who could protect herself! And, could backtalk Bruce like she was already a Wayne… He could make that happen actually…

Marinette looked up at Jason with a shocked expression “What?”

“You said you took down the Hawk guy. Ladybug took him down. You’re Ladybug. You’re a superhero! Wait... Adrien is the other one, right? The cat one you talked about? That's why you're so close. That’s why you two always had each other’s backs. Oh fuck. That means he was fighting his dad the whole time and didn’t know it. Oooh, B you really need to keep Selina away from him. She’ll adopt him… actually, you should stay away from him too. I already have one blonde, secret superhero child of a supervillain sibling. I don’t need another.”

“Secret identities, Jason. They're a thing for a reason” Marinette hissed at him. 

He just smiled back at her annoyed face as he wrapped his arms around her, “I’m just so glad you’re a hero and can protect yourself.”

“SILENCE,” Batman yelled. “Who is Ladybug? Who is Hawk Guy? And, who is ‘The Cat One’.”

“I’ll brief you later,” Jason said grinning lovingly down at the woman in his arms. “Right now, I think I need to borrow the jet.”

Marinette opened her mouth to argue about secret identities but instead shook her head and sighed resting her head on his shoulder. “I’m not getting married without a white dress,” she said in resignation. “I’m a designer, I need an amazing wedding dress.”

Just then the door to the roof burst open and Dick, Tim, Stephanie, and Adrien rushed through, tripping over each other in their haste to get out on the roof.

“I knew it! I told you they would be here,” Tim said to the others in triumph before freezing when he saw Batman.

“Oh my God! It’s Batman. It’s _the_ Batman. This is amazing,” Adrien gushed bouncing on the pads of his feet.

“It isn’t really that special, Blondie. He’s way over hyped.” Stephanie said rolling her eyes and shooting Batman a sardonic grin.

“So… what’s going on guys?” Dick asked cautiously.

“It’s all good. He can explain,” Jason said pointing to Batman and grabbing Marinette’s hand, guiding her toward the door.

“Hey, where do you guys think you are going?” Dick called out to them.

“We’re going to let the Bat explain everything. Also, just so we’re all on the same page, everyone up here is a hero or vigilante,” Jason grinned back at them like he hadn’t just thrown a grenade. “Have fun with that conversation. We’re taking this date on the road,” he said pulling Marinette through the door and closing it behind them. “Come on, let’s get going before they come around. Maybe we can be in Vegas before they recover. If you want to. If not we can date like proper people do and see where it goes.”

“I’m always up for a little chaos,” Marinette responded pressing a chaste kiss on his lips and grinning at the grumble he let out when she pulled away. When he leaned back toward her trying to recapture her lips she pushed him away gently with a finger on his lips. “We better move quickly then and if I start really kissing you again, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop,” she said giving him a seductive look. “My Uncle’s in Metropolis tonight. I can have his jet here within an hour but he’ll probably demand to be a witness. That gives us enough time to stop by my workshop and pick up the dress I just finished working on, which just happens to be white. Kismet,” she grinned, grabbing his hand as they ran down the stairs laughing deliriously.

**Author's Note:**

> Did I write this entire fic just for the ‘I am Batman’ line? Yes, yes I did.


End file.
